A clawed hand raised, black fingers dipping to touch the oil streaking from his eyes. The hand then pulled back, Black looking at it.

Finger and thumb swept briefly over one another, testing the oil's viscosity; and then the hand pressed down again, half-touched by the goop as palm touched rock.

"You would understand," Black explained, though his voice, and mind, were both distant, "if you but listened."

The Dog then seemed to fall into his own mind, once more ignoring Qisziux: the ground beneath him slicked inky black, oiled, the shade spreading around him in all directions. The rock darkened, reaching, splaying, spiderweb lines like cracks--but corruption alone--stretching across the stone.

Then the Black Dog stood, and began to walk off, toward the Spire.

@Qisziux

Qisziux didn't know how exactly to feel about the situation. On one hand, he was glad he hadn't been attacked yet. On the other hand, he didn't like the way this dog just brushed him off like nothing. Normally, he would've blamed it on the fact he frequently failed at magic, But he had done magic, and it has been strong enough to blind the dog temporarily. Maybe it's because you're just a kid. He had only been in the caves for a couple cycles, after all, but he hated being reminded of the fact he was only a child. He was just as smart as any adult in the caves, especially this dog.

"I'd understand if you weren't talking about complete nonsense!" He retorted, "Listening to those creepy whispers won't do anything but drive me crazy! It's clearly already driven you crazy." Truthfully, the dog's vagueness about the altar and it's magic made him more curious than ever. He refused to admit that, however. He'd figure out how to investigate it, someday- but safely, of course.

He backed away from the darkness as it spread, and when the dog began to walk away, he followed angrily. "Hey! Where do you think you're going!" He shouted.

He had meant to shine a beam of light at the dog, to get his attention and distract him from whatever he was going to do. Maybe even blind him again. What happened instead was a bright beam of light shined into his OWN eyes. "Not again." He half mumbled, half hissed as he blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision.


"Spoken Words."
Thoughts

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notes: he just keeps blinding himself huh

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@Black

Black paused, glancing back only briefly, the shaded blur as his vision gradually returned showing him the flailing little lizard on the ground. What had it done..? He could not tell, but it didn't seem to be well.

"What is said with truth cannot be madness," he answered, his voice calm and distant, an eerie hollow quality to it. And then he turned and continued to stride away.

Ahead lay the derelict Spire: long-abandoned, shining with a magic that was not curated by, to the Black Dog's knowledge, anyone. Left to... what, guide them? Provide them energy, power, without supervision? Black did not know. He knew that there were cracks in it, now; he knew there was a darkness lurking beneath. He did not presume to know what it meant.

He spoke, still, as he knelt closer to it, again pressing palms to the rock. "The Crawler sees..." yet before he could continue, it felt as if something had gripped, strongly, one shoulder. He half-turned, sharply, to stare--but nothing was there. And though he stared for a long moment, nothing appeared.

Strange.

"...what it fears. But the Dog is a guardian; it does not bring harm." He spoke as if distant from himself, as if another being, as if he were floating outside the chaotic whispers and dark urges that rustled past like some cold wind. He focused, instead, on his task, single-minded as he could be.

He knew, now, that he would need to return to the altar after this: to calm his mind, to soothe the chaos blossoming through it.

It truly seemed to be all-or-nothing, this magic, and so he found himself simply knelt again, nothing happening; though not too close to the Spire, he was nearer to it. He looked up, eyes half-closed against what was, to him, a near-blinding glow, and waited.

@Qisziux

Qisziux instinctively looked up when the dog spoke, though the bright image of the misfired beam of light had still yet to fade completely from his vision. He didn't reply this time- This dog was only speaking complete nonsense. Even if he didn't completely understand the altar, he knew it was bad. Something good or even neutral didn't make gembound act like this.

Finally his vision cleared and he looked around, quickly spotting the dog nearby a giant chunk of glowing blue crystal. The spire unnerved him, and the dog's interest in it unnerved him even more. He got closer, but not much closer, still leaving a decent bit of space between himself, and the dog and the spire.

"How do you know I'M the one who's wrong!" He snapped,
"Just because you listened to some whispers doesn't mean you know the truth. They could've lied!" His tail smacked against the cave floor angrily, making a sort of metallic clanking sound.

Please don't be a failure this time. He thought, drawing on his magic to attempt to make another beam of light. His magic listened to him this time, a beam of light appearing right next to the dog, like a harmless lightning strike. He hoped it'd distract the dog from whatever he was trying to do.

"Spoken Words."
Thoughts

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@Black

Black paused, the brief flash of light at the edge of his vision enough to blind him, for a moment. He ignored it, for the most part, though it was beginning to... irritate him.

Yet some part of him acknowledged this as good for the meditation; a little irritant would be a good test of his self-control. He did not need sight, in any case, to continue his task, and he did so, blindly pressing his corruption into the rock. Another bloom of dark stone began to slick out from all around him, and only after it had begun to spread did Black speak again.

"It speaks," he rasped, "of right, and wrong. Of good, of morality. As if a shadow can be evil. The Dog asks it, then; if it believes itself to be good, and the Black Dog no longer a guardian: why is it attacking, and the Dog not striking back..?"

He glanced half-back, at this, as if to emphasize his point, his blind eye staring back at Qisziux.

@Qisziux

Qisziux watched as more darkness spread across the stone, the flash of light he'd created seeming to not phase the dog. The futility of his actions continued to annoy him, like he was nothing more than some annoying distraction.

As the dog spoke, he paused, looking rather bothered by his words. It took him a few moments to come up with a response. "I'm not hurting you. It's just some bright light." He replied, Only because some harmless light is the only thing you CAN do. He quickly continued, "These shadows aren't just shadows! You've seen the fighting visions, probably more than I have. How could something that violent be good?" His tail swished across the stone floor, just barely scraping against it. Just as a precaution, he reached for his magic, pushing it into the stone beneath his claws.

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@Black

"The Dog claimed not that you were causing harm," Black answered in his absent, echoing rumble.

He pushed up, and paced forward, closer now to the Spire. Bathed in its blue light, he knelt once more. "These shadows whisper of battle. But it is not battle. One beast kills another out of malice, little Crawler; is this bad? But now, I tell you of this, later; is the tale itself a menace? Is learning of a thing-that-was, evil?"

Once again, he knelt; once again, clawed hands pressed to the stone. Black began to twist and spread from him, flowing out around him. By now, the path he'd walked was clearly-defined, a broad, dark swathe painted across Polaris' rock.

He stood, again, as he finished, and began walking broadside to the Spire.

"Are whispers and memories wrong, then, little Crawler? Are warnings to be ignored, for the horror that they bring?"

@Qisziux

"The why would you complain about me hurting you." He replied, though it was only a frustrated mumble. There's no reasoning with this stupid dog. I'll have to chase him away or leave. But chasing him away clearly wouldn't work- Who was afraid of him? He grimaced. Just one more try. He didn't want to leave- leaving felt like losing- but there had to be a point where he had to admit to himself he lost, right?

"Knowing isn't the problem, it's just... a side effect." He stared right at the dog, "It isn't just memories, it's more than that." He argued, "It's more than a warning. Its like... instructions." Not quite the word he wanted, but close enough. He took a couple steps forward, but didn't pursue Black any longer as he watched him walk towards the spire.

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@Black

Black paused, that esoteric murmur bringing him more than glimpses, now, of imagery. He began to speak to it, aloud, and it sounded as though he were speaking to himself: quizzical questions with a perhaps unintentional mockery to the words.

"...Is it stupid, perhaps? Does it hear, 'attacking,' and then believe the word 'hurt' has been said? Does it hear information, and hear 'complaint?' Is it a fool; is it only a child? Is it arrogance, or is it idiocy? Is it both?" All of this was delivered in that same slow and thoughtful rumble, and Black stepped forward once again, completing a semi-circle at a wide distance around the Spire.

He knelt.

And now, he addressed Crawler more directly. "They are no instructions, little Crawler. Perhaps it should listen, instead of merely hearing."

Darkness bloomed up one last time, flooding the rock out around him, crackling and popping with an oily sheen. When it had finished he pushed up, and then simply strode away, leaving darkness in his wake and no further words for the tiny lizard to bite at.

exit Black unless stopped
@Qisziux

Qisziux's eyes narrowed as the dog spoke, "Wh- Im not stupid!" He shouted, anger clear in his voice. He glared at the dog, "You make no sense!" He hissed angrily, turning away.

That's it. I'm done. He thought as the dog walked away. He made no move to follow, going in the opposite direction as he looked for the way out of this stupid cave. There's no point in talking with him until I'm power enough to stop him. He decided. He'd have to train his magic, to be stronger. And.. maybe check out that cave again. He didn't want to become corrupted, like that dog, but maybe he could understand it just a little bit more..

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@Black
Exit Thread